newbie question

[The following text is in the "iso-8859-1" character set]
[Your display is set for the "ISO-8859-8" character set]
[Some characters may be displayed incorrectly]
I have recently become interested in the origins of Christianity (I am not a
Christian) and have been searching for a good overview of how Christianity
began. Specificly, I have developed a strong skepticism and curiousity
regarding the actual writings of Jesus Christ. My limited background and
readings have led me to ask the question "Where are the writings?" - Jesus
must have WRITTEN something! We have preserved in our history the actual
texts of many prophets and philosophers before and during the time of Jesus
so, what happened to the writings of Jesus?
I am deeply suspicious of the manner in which Christianity was "codified".
I admit to being a layman and not a scholar and I'm probably directing my
questions to the wrong place but, if you can offer any advise on books that
I might read to help explain and understand, I would be grateful.
Thank you in advance.
Al Davison